Much like Noah Lennox's sister group, Animal Collective, we've come to expect a certain musical aesthetic and general vibe from their music. Layered tracks, delay, shiny and dense vocal harmonies accompanied by your general psychedelic instrumentation. This seven inch record is no different. Lennox's obvious love of Brian WIlson's take on sunny '60s psychedelia still seems to shine through every recording he does with Panda Bear and the better part of Animal Collective. Not that we're complaining. Though many before have sought to replicate The Beach Boys unique sound, few have done it with such an intelligence and ingenuity as Panda Bear. Though Tomboy still sounds similar to Panda Bear's other efforts, it lacks the sheen and ambiance that we have come to love in those records. The two tracks, each clocking in at four-minutes,19-seconds, seem more dreary and less radiant then their other efforts, each maintaining the same sort of tone throughout. We found ourselves looking for something more to draw us in, but came up short. more ›

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market... more ›

One of the reasons I love to go to Lollapalooza is the fact that I can see bands that I love or know I'm going to love (e.g., The Fratellis; Rodrigo y Gabriela*, Peter, Bjorn and John; Paolo Nutini -- just to name a few), but another huge component is going to hear bands I've heard of but don't really know anything about. Last year, I was rewarded greatly by going to check out... more ›

Chicagoist has lots of friends (we pay them), but few of them are as able to turn our frowns upside down like former Ctrl-Alt-Rock popsters May or May Not, who put the wraps on a week of CD release shenanigans tomorrow night at Hideout. Chicagoist was a big fan of the band’s debut, and though we realize it sounds like an insult to say that MOMN provides more of the same on their Bike EP,... more ›

While we’re sure that Union Park will see its fair share of indie kids in ironic tees this summer, it’s starting to look like there’ll be plenty of folks in relaxed fit jeans as well. Pitchfork Music Fest has added Os Mutantes to their July 29-30 lineup. When one of Chicagoist’s indie rock friends told us this, we just sort of stared blankly at them, which only prompted her to yell “Os Mutantes! Os Mutantes!”... more ›

So depending on which paper you favor, Kanye West either cast a long shadow over the rest of the Grammy nominees or was overshadowed. more ›

If you’re unable to find your local music geek today, try checking their bedroom.  They’ll likely be there with a monster set of headphones and listening to an album that is spoken of in the most reverential tones this side of your local monastery: Brian Wilson’s Smile.  The former Beach Boy’s “lost masterwork” goes on sale today for the first time since it was conceived of more than 37 years ago.  more ›